The terrorist attacks in Belgium have a huge impact on the Belgian people. There is a mixture of shock, disbelief, fear, anger and sadness. "There is a big difference between the attacks in Brussels and Paris. You really know Brussels, it's very close. Almost everyone knows someone who was at the airport. It's all so unreal," says Filip Fontaine, BelOrta director.
BelOrta auction - determined
This morning it was again "business as usual" at the BelOrta auction. Filip notes that the conversations are only about one subject. "Everyone is talking about it. What I found very remarkable, is that everyone personally finds it terrible what has happened, but that's followed by a certain degree of determination. "We don't allow it to get us down this easily," was the much-heard response from buyers who were at the auction this morning. "That's also our approach at BelOrta. We agreed fully with this."
The Belgian minister for Foreign Affairs, Jan Jambon, has the same determination. He doesn't want Belgium to feel beaten by the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday morning. "We need to fight the battle against terrorism with even more determination, we have to tighten all procedures and be sharp," Jambon said.
Mabru - impact seems not that bad
Wholesale market Mabru, near Molenbeek, was open as usual today. Yesterday, there was talk of a possible closure of the market, but the municipal administration decided not to let this go through. "After the terrible things that happened Tuesday morning in Brussels, it will probably be more quiet here and in the rest of Brussels, which is logical," says Wim Vandepoel of wholesaler Fruit Vandepoel. Sales at his company weren't bad, in view of the circumstances. "Some of the customers didn't go to Brussels, but the impact doesn't seem to be as big as after the previous attack in Paris and the terror threat in November. People are saying: 'it's terrible that this happened, but we need to move on'. I did hear that the region of Brussels will do everything to carry on as before, so that everything will run its normal course again. It now looks as though everyone is carrying on with business almost immediately again."
European Center - We have to move on
The import center in Brussels, the ECFG, was also open today. Because it's always quieter around this time of year, the influence on business wasn't very big, according to one importer. "People are scared, but on the other hand we need to look at it realistically: It's happened, and we need to move on. That's really rather simple, and I hear other people see it the same way. It's probable that the Brussels city center will be crippled for a while, but here in the CE we don't really notice that a lot less is being purchased yet. Of course that might still happen, these days nothing is certain."
Impact on Brussels
The city center of Brussels was hit. Schools, companies, restaurants and supermarkets were shut down directly after the attacks yesterday, but today most of them are open again. In Brussels, traffic slowly got started again on Wednesday morning. Zaventem airport will remain closed for the time being, as will some metro stations. Many inhabitants are avoiding public transport. It's still much too early to estimate the economic damage at traders or restaurants in Brussels. "The impact on business figures will be major, but it's not a priority at the moment," according to BECI (the Brussels Chamber of Commerce).
Four billion damage
Four billion euros. According to a first estimate, that's the extent of the economic damages of Tuesday's attacks. If the terror threat continues, or in case of additional attacks, the costs could be a lot higher still," says ING chief economist Peter Vanden Houte.
